WORCESTER -- A prosecutor told jurors Monday that defendant Tony A. Ancrum of Lynn and three companions traveled to Fitchburg on the night Sept. 2, 2003, with one goal: Rob the drug dealer.

That drug dealer, Christian Perez, ended up dead from a gunshot to the head on Middle Street in Fitchburg in the early hours of Sept. 3, 2003.

Ancrum was present when the shots were fired, Worcester County Assistant District Attorney Brett Dillon alleged in his opening statement Monday, as Ancrum's trial got underway in Worcester Superior Court.

But Ankrum's attorney, Daniel Cronin, argued that Ancrum and Perez had never met and that there was no evidence proving his client had been at the scene of the crime.

"I suggest to you in this matter there is an abundance of reasonable doubt," Cronin told the jury during his opening statement.

In 2014, Ancrum was indicted in the murder of Perez, a 23-year-old Fitchburg resident, and pleaded not guilty.

Ancrum, who was 21 at the time, was arrested that same night while traveling east with three other men through Harvard on Route 2 in a vehicle police said matched the description of a car that left Middle Street at the time of the shooting.

Ancrum's companions that night -- Tyrone Strong, 38, Boston, Giovanni Rivera, 32, of Dorchester, and Mitchell Rivera, 36, formerly of Boston -- were indicted in the murder in 2015, and their trials are pending.

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The exact details of that alleged getaway vehicle became one of Cronin's biggest points of contention with the prosecution's case against Ancrum.

While two witnesses at the scene of the shooting reported seeing a red Cadillac with a tan roof, the Cadillac Ancrum had been driving when pulled over was green.

Sgt. Christopher Dougherty, the state trooper who had pulled Ancrum over, explained to jurors Monday that he had thought the green Cadillac might have appeared red to witnesses if the car's break lights had been illuminated when they saw it. He added that the car did have the tan roof and long taillights that witnesses at the scene had described.

While three firearms were recovered from the vehicle Ancrum had been driving, Cronin pointed out that none of them matched the seven shell casings that had been found at the scene.

However, Dillon argued that the casings would have matched a fourth gun, which he claimed had been thrown from Ancrum's vehicle before it was pulled over, according to statements made by Ancrum's ex-girlfriend to investigators.

"She told them she did speak to the defendant on the night of this murder," Dillon said. "What he told her was that he was pulled over in Fitchburg, it was something about drugs, but most importantly, they tossed the gun out the window."

Dillon also referred to a letter Ancrum had written to his mother from prison after his arrest.

In the letter Dillon said Ancrum had written, "T shot the gun" while referring to an incident as "a stick [holdup] gone bad." The letter also instructed Ancrum's mother to burn it once she was done reading.

Dillon also said in his opening statement that several items belonging to Perez had been found by police in Ancrum's car, as well as a bag of cocaine. Mitchell Rivera also had in his possession a cell phone that had called Perez five times the night he was murdered, Dillon said.

During his own opening statements Cronin pointed out that there was no evidence that could place Ancrum at the scene of the shooting. Cronin explained that no trace amounts of gun powder residue were found on Ancrum and his fingerprints were not found on any of the three guns or cocaine found in his car.

Cronin also referred to the crime scene as being "completely contaminated" after roughly 30 police personnel "trampled" over it.

"I suggest to you the evidence will show that Christian Perez was a total stranger to Tony Ancrum," Cronin said.

Ancrum has been held without bail since his 2014 indictment. He had previously been sentenced to two years in prison in 2010 after pleading guilty to drug and firearm charges stemming from the stop.

Strong and the Riveras were also charged with cocaine trafficking and illegal possession of a large-capacity weapon in 2003, as well as possession of ammunition without a license and possession of an unlicensed firearm at home or work when they were indicted in 2015.

In addition, Giovanni Rivera and Strong were also indicted as career criminals in 2015, which means they would face enhanced penalties if they are found guilty.

Perez had been awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges at the time of his death and was freed after posting a $10,000 cash bond in July 2003. He was scheduled to make a court appearance 12 days before he was murdered.

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